Belle Isle Moonshine

Replace your vodka with something better.

Cocktails

VALENTINE'S DAY COCKTAILS

There's No Wrong Way to V-Day: Four Belle Isle Cocktails for Whatever Your Valentine's Day Looks Like

CocktailsStephanie StantonComment

Love means never having to say you’re sorry for hogging all the lo mein.

All photos by Joey Wharton.

Valentine’s Day can mean a lot of different things depending on your current relationship status. Romantic night with a special someone? Sure. Corporate bonanza built on consumerism? Maybe. An excuse to eat a bunch of heart-shaped candy? Big time.

No matter if you’re Single AF or in an LTR, we can all agree on one thing: Valentine’s Day is a great reason to eat and drink well. Here’s our list of cocktails perfect for whatever your V-Day holds.

NEW RELATIONSHIP ENERGY

Cocktail: Check Yes or No

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz. Belle Isle Blood Orange

  • 1 oz. Cocchi Rosa

  • 1 oz. Aperol

    Preparation:
    Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Ah, the excitement of new love. I think we can all agree that a relationship really hits its peak when you’re comfortable enough with a person to talk about your feelings, but not so comfortable that you pick a fight about them after one too many cocktails. This beautiful, intoxicating NRE status deserves an equally stirring cocktail pairing. Try our Blood Orange negroni variation Check Yes or No to elevate your evening with that special someone.

GALENTINE’s Party

Cocktail: Ring of Fire

Ingredients:

Preparation: 
Add ingredients to a mug and top with whipped cream and dried chilies.

**Mexican Hot Chocolate: Over medium heat, stir 3 cups whole milk
2 tbsp. cocoa powder, 4 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 tbsp. crushed cinnamon sticks, 1/4 oz. cayenne pepper, and a pinch of kosher salt. Simmer for 5-10 mins., then remove from heat and let cool.

Spend the holiday that’s all about love doing what you actually love the most: drinking cocktails and talking trash with your BFFs. We highly suggest whipping up our coffee-tinged Mexican hot chocolate, Ring of Fire, to invite in some old school slumber party vibes. Whipped cream is mandatory; casting spells is optional.

LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP

Cocktail: Islands in the Stream

If you’ve been in an LTR for a few years, you probably said goodbye to pretense a long time ago. You just want to cut the filler and skip right to the good stuff: a box of chocolates, cuddling on the couch, and a few simple, delicious cocktails. Try Islands in the Stream, our spicy play on a strawberry margarita, to heat things up a bit.

Ingredients:

Preparation: 
Add all ingredients to mixing tin with ice. Shake and double-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.

SOLO NIGHT IN

Cocktail: Rose Garden

The absolute best part of being single is that you never have to share. Celebrate your independence and whip up two of these spritzy Rose Garden cocktails–then drink both yourself.

Ingredients:

Preparation: 
Add all ingredients to a wine glass with ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.

happy valentine’s day!

Still thirsty?

Belle Isle Moonshine is a premium, handcrafted spirit proudly hailing from Richmond, Virginia.

We take the name Belle Isle from a small, 540-acre island located smack dab in the middle of the James River where Civil War soldiers used surplus corn rations to make moonshine in copper kettles.

Belle Isle Moonshine is distilled from 100% organic corn, grown by three family farms and responsibly sourced. Once triple-distilled, we charcoal filter Belle Isle four times over. Then, we cut it with purified water right from the James River. Our infusions are made with 100% real ingredients, never artificial flavors or color. We use real grapefruits sourced from Texas and California, local honey from the Shenandoah Valley, organic habaneros grown an hour away, and freshly roasted coffee beans from the most socially conscious roastery in Richmond, Blanchard's Coffee Roasting Co.

From there, each bottle of Belle Isle Moonshine is filled, corked, labeled, and packed by hand by our Production team, who check each bottle and batch for quality assurance. Since Belle Isle is made in small batches, you can find the batch number handwritten in the bottom right corner of each bottle.

Distilled from good times and 100% organic corn.

Break Up with Vodka: 3 Reasons to Fall for Belle Isle Moonshine this Valentine's Day

CocktailsStephanie StantonComment

Vodka has done you wrong one too many times. It’s time to upgrade to a more refined spirit.

All photos by Joey Wharton.

Sick of constantly getting burned by vodka’s tasteless tricks and disappointing drinks? Leave those immature games in the past and upgrade to the smooth, bold, and dependably delicious taste of Belle Isle Moonshine. Not ready to let go of your tired, old go-to spirit? Here are three huge reasons why it’s finally time to ditch your vodka for something better.

REASON #1: YOU DESERVE A SPIRIT WITH SOME FLAVOR

Blood Orange Cosmo = the reigning kween of cranberry juice cocktails.

Be honest: how many vodka-crans can one human ingest in a lifetime? Yes, they go down easy, but isn’t that because they don’t taste like much more than watered-down cranberry juice that burns all the way down?

Vodka prides itself on being tasteless, and you deserve more than that. Get you a flavorful spirit you’ll be happy to savor, like the bold, bright Belle Isle Blood Orange! Kick those vodka-crans to the curb and shake up a Blood Orange Cosmo instead.

BLOOD ORANGE COSMO

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz. cranberry juice

  • ¾ oz. fresh lime juice

Preparation:

Add all ingredients to a mixing tin over ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Garnish with a lime twist, or a dehydrated blood orange.
.

REASON #2: YOU’RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN BASIC

Chocolate Berry Boost: all of the boosted buzz with none of the crash and burn.

Okay, so you’re sleepy, but you still want to party. There’s no shame in that! You may think you’re doomed to a night of the shakes after sipping on a Vodka RedBull, but you’re wrong! There is a better (and less basic) way to get that boosted buzz you crave.

The caffeine-laced jolt of our Belle Isle Cold Brew Coffee will get you up and dancing without the harsh taste or night-ending crash. Try it solo with regular coffee, or for a fully refined treat, add a splash of Godiva Milk Chocolate Liqueur and raspberry whipped cream!

CHOCOLATE BERRY BOOST

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Add first three ingredients to an Irish coffee glass. Top with raspberry whipped cream**


**Raspberry Whipped Cream: Over medium heat, mix 1 cup muddled raspberries, 1 cup white sugar, and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes, then let cool and strain out the seeds. This will give you a tasty raspberry simple syrup! Add this syrup to chilled Heavy Whipping Cream at a 1:2 ratio, then shake or whisk vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Layer this whipped cream on top of your cocktail!

REASON #3: LIKE THINGS A LITTLE SWEET & SPICY? GET YOU A DRINK THAT CAN DO BOTH

Let our Southside of the James be your hero, baby.

SOUTHSIDE OF THE JAMES

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ oz. lime

  • ¾ oz. simple syrup

  • 2 mint sprigs (1 in cocktail, 1 for garnish)

Preparation:

Add all ingredients to a shaker tin over ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with second mint sprig.

Here at Belle Isle Moonshine, we pride ourselves on our versatility. We can be sweet, spicy, bold, soft, hot, cold, herbal, floral, sour–you name it, we can do it.

Take this simple Southside of the James. Our spin on a classic Southside, this drink is just as mind-blowing with our bright, citrusy Belle Isle Ruby Red Grapefruit as it is with the sweet heat of our Belle Isle Honey Habanero. Baby, we can multitask. Can your vodka do that?

HAPPY

VALENTINE’S

DAY 💕

galentine’s day more your thing?

Belle Isle Moonshine is a premium, handcrafted spirit proudly hailing from Richmond, Virginia.

We take the name Belle Isle from a small, 540-acre island located smack dab in the middle of the James River where Civil War soldiers used surplus corn rations to make moonshine in copper kettles.

Belle Isle Moonshine is distilled from 100% organic corn, grown by three family farms and responsibly sourced. Once triple-distilled, we charcoal filter Belle Isle four times over. Then, we cut it with purified water right from the James River. Our infusions are made with 100% real ingredients, never artificial flavors or color. We use real grapefruits sourced from Texas and California, local honey from the Shenandoah Valley, organic habaneros grown an hour away, and freshly roasted coffee beans from the most socially conscious roastery in Richmond, Blanchard's Coffee Roasting Co.

From there, each bottle of Belle Isle Moonshine is filled, corked, labeled, and packed by hand by our Production team, who check each bottle and batch for quality assurance. Since Belle Isle is made in small batches, you can find the batch number handwritten in the bottom right corner of each bottle.

Distilled from good times and 100% organic corn.